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Chen Feller [Last edited: 17.10.18]

6+ Israeli chatbots you should message

Open your Facebook Messenger, It's time to make some new bot friends.

It’s starting to get pretty tiring talking about all the newest “hot trends”, but you should trust us (and everyone else) when we say that AI (artificial intelligence) bots and chatbots are really the next big thing.

If any technology is trending, you can be sure that the Israeli startup scene will hop on the opportunity and make the most of it. Meekan, for example, the Israeli bot that helps Slack users schedule appointments easily, was acquired by the Swiss company Tamedia for an undisclosed amount. It’s considered the first time a chatbot startup made an exit, but we can be certain that it won’t be the last. Now, forget Siri, Alexa and Cortana, it’s time to find some other new helpers.

YesBot - Helps you discover new TV series to watch

One of the first Israeli companies to embrace this technology and use a chatbot to their advantage was the satellite television provider Yes, and they are rocking it. Their bot can recommend new content and TV series (available on their VOD) that you should watch, based on a genre or your favorites. It serves you even if you’re not their customer (and offers you to join, of course), and is pretty useful, user-friendly and impressive. Check them out, and happy binging! The bot is available only in Hebrew.

Well, Say2Eat isn’t exactly for you, unless you own a restaurant, but it gives restaurant owners the ability to have their own tailormade food ordering agent. Say2Eat creates chatbots for Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram and other social networks to help restaurants boost their sales. What does it mean for you as a user? Well, if you’re hungry, it can make your food ordering process much easier. Chat with the restaurant’s bot on Facebook and its smart AI and NLP (natural language processing) will do the rest for you. Bon Appetit!

This bot is a personal favorite, built by the Israeli chatbot expert Uri Eliabayev. AutoHash is simple - Just send the photo you want to post on Instagram and it will send you the best, most popular and usually relevant hashtags instantly (only “usually” because no image recognition algorithm is perfect). If you want to reach more people on Instagram without having to type in a lot of hashtags every time, AutoHash is definitely the chatbot for you. Oh, and it’s also available as an app for Android.

If by chance you’re planning on running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstart or Indiegogo to fund your next cool wearable gadget, book, or music album, then it’s time to meet Sonya. SonyaBot was created by Arik Mamorstein, the CEO of the Israeli crowdfunding platform Mimoona, who decided to put their efforts into guiding others through the process of creating a successful crowdfunding campaign. SonyaBot will guide you every day, for 30 days, giving you different tasks to perform in order to optimize your campaign and reach your funding goal (or beyond).

Keep forgetting things? Then what you need is a personal assistant that will always be there to remind to take a pill, drink water or rest your eyes in case you’re stuck too much at work. This pretty useful and friendly bot is called ME and it can also help you build lists, set a reminder to others, tell you the weather today, inspire you or tell a really bad dad joke. ME is available for Messenger, Telegram, Slack and Alexa.

K Health is an AI personal health assistant made by Kang Health, with cooperation (In Israel) with Maccabi Healthcare Services. Whenever you’re feeling sick, tell K what do you feel and it’ll ask you a series of questions about your condition and symptoms, just like a real doctor, to help you find out what you’re having and offer you treatment. It’s based on data of millions of patients and tens of thousands of doctors, and it’s way more accurate than looking it up in Google. K Health is available only as an app, not in Messenger.

It’s pretty hard to translate the Arabic word Yalla, used widely in Hebrew with different meanings, that one of them is like “Let’s do it!”. So, in case you’re a digital marketer, Yala will help you do it. The bot uses AI to help you schedule your social media posts at the best time (based on machine learning), create branded posts and show analytics. It helps you via Messenger or Slack. Yala costs $100 per year and they offer a 14 days free trial, so check it out, Yalla!

Parents? This one’s for you. Nanna is an AI parenting app that brings immediate, relevant and professional advice from top Parenting experts, directly to every home. Nanna was developed by Ono Apps, an app building company acquired by Matrix a few years ago. Nanna is like a child, still learning and still being developed, so it is currently available only for Android and iPhones, and supports only Hebrew.

We know that most of you aren't working as Head of HR or own a big company, but this b2b solution might be useful for you when you're seeking for a job as well. Jenna is a chatbot developed by Israeli startup Spartans, and it gives companies the ability to screen candidates through the website or even on Facebook Messenger. It asks the right questions, filters irrelevant or low-quality applications and saves precious time, for both companies and job seekers. You can check out Jenna works and apply for a job at Spartans right here.

EVE is a useful and knowledgeable chatbot created by Israeli startup EasyWay. It's mostly used by hotels to enhance the engagement with the guests and improve their experience, collect data and boost sales, but it proves to be efficient for travelers too. EVE TLV chatbot helps travelers in Tel-Aviv find restaurants, ATMs, events, parties, and of course - Hotels. Enjoy your stay!

So, what do you think about these bots taking over our lives? Are they useful? Would they change the way we interact with businesses and make our lives simpler?

Who knows, but all we can hope for is that the next great bot-related exits will come from Israel.

Oh, and two bonuses:

https://botlist.co/ is an attempt to collect all the bots in one place, so it will be easy for you to find the bot you need, just like an app in Google Play.

Fatherly’s Dad Joke Bot is not an Israeli bot, in fact, it’s the most American thing you could stumble upon – it sends you bad puns by request. For example, “I wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind” or, “What did the fish say when it swam into a wall? Damn!” Yes, they’re awful, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need to put a smile on your face.